Metal Gear Solid 2 is now 20 years old.
The Hideo Kojima-helmed stealth sequel launched in North America on 13th November 2001 on PlayStation 2, before coming out soon after in Japan, then in Europe in March 2002.
Metal Gear Solid 2 was the much-hyped follow-up to PSone masterpiece Metal Gear Solid. Anticipation for its release hit astronomical levels after its classic reveal from E3 2000.
(Digital Foundry published a video, below, that uses machine learning to freshen up the Metal Gear Solid 2 E3 reveal. It’s well worth a watch!).
Metal Gear Solid 2 produced next-gen visuals complete with more advanced AI behavior. But it proved to be a somewhat controversial release. While Metal Gear Solid 2 let you play as series star Solid Snake in its iconic prologue mission, a new protagonist called Raiden was the playable character for the bulk of the game. Some players who had expected Snake to be the main character based on marketing pre-release material reacted negatively to this switch.
Metal Gear Solid 2 did include Kojima’s trademark lengthy cutscenes, of course, with extensive dialogue delivering a philosophical takedown of modern warfare. Some called it genius. Others, gibberish.
Still, Metal Gear Solid 2 went down as one of the biggest games of the era, and one of the most popular PS2 games of the year. It ended up re-launching in Substance form on Xbox and PC, and more sequels followed.
In 2015, Rich Stanton called Metal Gear Solid 2 “the first postmodern video game” in a retrospective for Eurogamer.
“My God, it’s been 20 years since then?” Hideo Kojima tweeted this morning, summing up the sentiment.
My God, it’s been 20 years since then? pic.twitter.com/C5zw8jqDNz
– HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) November 13, 2021
Kojima has been tweeting development tidbits all day, which I’ve rounded up below:
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I couldn’t find the right person, so I asked Ms. Carla White, whom I found after listening to her CD.– HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) November 13, 2021
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In MGS4, I gave Snake a portable ashtray to throw away his cigarettes.– HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) November 13, 2021
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Creating the future and telling the story of the past are the same thing. (Full text from MGS2)– HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) November 13, 2021
LIBERTY and FREEDOM have different meanings, and MGS2 is not about singularity, but about the “norms” of society having a will of their own. https://t.co/CAcvzfgI6J
– HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) November 13, 2021
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asking Kyle Cooper to do the open titles, and asking Harry to do the music. We also went to Hans Zimmer’s studio.– HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) November 13, 2021
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The setting is similar to Violet’s. Later, MGS5 dealt with the boy soldier issue in a direct manner.– HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) November 13, 2021
In fact, I ordered a live-action news film of a real boy soldier and edited it myself, but it was not approved by the rating and had to be scrapped. https://t.co/707UQoij4N
– HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) November 13, 2021
So, here’s to you, Metal Gear Solid 2! Happy birthday!